LACROSSE, Wis.– A former Catholic bishop of LaCrosse, now a cardinal at the Vatican, Raymond Leo Burke, has come down with Covid. The cardinal said he began feeling ill during a visit to Wisconsin. He tested positive Tuesday. He was hospitalized Saturday and put on a ventilator to ease breathing. He is 73.
Burke profile
Cardinal Burke was born n Richland Center, Wisconsin. He was ordained in La Crosse and taught at Aquinas High School. He was appointed bishop of the La Crosse Diocese in 1995. His LaCrosse legacy is the Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in the bluffs up Mormon Coulee.. Burke served as La Crosse bishop until 2004. He has held several papal appointmcnts in the church hierarchy in Rome.
Burke. In his cardinal vestments. A canon lawyer. Has led the conservative wing of Roman Catholicism since his tenure as bishop of St. Louis and later LaCrosse.